TEMPE, Ariz.-- Arizona State head baseball coach Pat Murphy had a chance to coach the 1988 Dutch National baseball team in the Seoul Olympics, but declined the opportunity so he could return to the University of Notre Dame, where he had recently been named the head coach.

Nearly 12 years later, Murphy's ties to international baseball in Holland remained, and he was recently named coach of the Dutch Olympic Baseball Team for the Sydney 2000 Games, as announced in early June by Dutch Baseball Federation President Berry Eijgendaal.

"This is a great opportunity and I'm excited to be a part of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney," Murphy said. "I'm honored to be in this position and look forward to the challenges ahead."

The 2000 Pac-10 Coach of the Year, Murphy, who is a native of Syracuse, N.Y., recently completed his sixth season at the helm of the ASU program, guiding the Sun Devils to a 44-15 record and their third postseason appearance in four years. With a 605-294-3 record in 16 seasons, he is the winningest active coach under the age of 43. Murphy has compiled a 232-123 record during his tenure at ASU, and has guided the Sun Devils to top-12 rankings in three of the last four years.

No stranger to international baseball, Murphy's ties to the Dutch team stretch back more than a decade. In the summer of 1987, he led Holland to the European Championship, a victory that qualified the squad for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Murphy was asked to coach the team at the Seoul Olympics, but declined to return to coaching the Fighting Irish. In seven seasons at the helm of the Irish, Murphy led the program to three consecutive NCAA appearances and posted a career 318-116-1 record in Sound Bend.

The Dutch Olympic Team will compete under Murphy's guidance in a pre-Olympic tournament in Haarlem (the Netherlands) August 4-14. The tournament field includes the U.S. National Team, comprised of top college players, including ASU star catcher Casey Myers. The Dutch contingent will leave Holland for Sydney on September 2.